Stardust Method
by BittersweetSonata
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia was a normal teenage girl, living in a normal world. Or at least that's what she thought. Her whole outlook on the world is about to be shaken, and it all started because she took in the bloodied pink-haired boy.
1. The Boy with the Pink Hair

**Yeah, I have major writer's block with more than a few of my stories, so here this is. I at least know where I'm going with this, and I actually have a plot for once! It's kind of like a 'superhero' story-ish type thing. But not really. I don't really have much to say except that it's probably a really crappy first chapter because I wrote it really late last night. **

** But whatever. I like this idea, so screw it.**

** Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, any brands that may be listed in this story, or any of the songs lyrics used for this story. They belong to Hiro Mashima, their respective companies, and their respective bands and/or owners. **

** Also, the first part is kind of weird, and it's in present tense. I usually write in past tense, so it was extremely odd for me to write. I also have no idea what the hell it's supposed to be, because like I said, I wrote this late last night.**

** Read on! **

Chapter One

The Boy with Pink Hair

* * *

_{And I believe in reinvention, do you believe that life is holding the clue?} _

* * *

There were men rushing everywhere waving obnoxiously large and freakish looking guns around. It was bright. Way too bright, and it was practically blinding him. Their heavy boots made their footsteps even louder as they ran through the _all too white and bright _tunnels as the sirens wailed.

"Code red. I repeat. Code red. Break in Sector Seven. I repeat. Code red. Break in Sector Seven. Break in-" and it went _on _and _on. _That monotonous mechanical voice still somehow managing to be heard over the screaming and wailing sirens that made him feel sick to his stomach.

"_Find_ him." one of the armored men hisses to his subordinates. "Make sure he _doesn't get away_."

The others nod, their faces registering what can only be described as pure and raw terror, and their legs are shaking. But they separate, and run down more of the long bright tunnels anyway, despite their fears. Or maybe they're just more afraid of what will happen to them if they disobey orders.

It doesn't really matter, because he can _smell _their fear.

Their leader picks up his communicator and pushes the button. "This is a message to HQ: we've had a break."

He waits, and watches, and listens. His keen sense of hearing and sight not failing him now.

Soon, another voice comes over the radio. "This is HQ. What do you mean?"

The man gulps, he can see his Adam's apple bob, even through his armor and from his hiding spot. "I repeat," the man pauses, and he can practically _hear _the sweat rolling down his face, "we've had a break." another pause. "I-in Sector S-Seven."

Then, silence. And he's careful not to move because _he can't afford to be caught now. _

The radio crackles, the static slightly bothering him, as they both wait in trepidation for the response.

"A break...in Sector Seven?" the voice on the other end asks. The shock and disbelief is all to evident, along with traces of fear.

"Y-yes sir." the man replies.

More static.

"Who?" the voice demands suddenly. "What number?"

He can hear the panic all throughout the building, as well as on the other side of the line.

The man's head drops slightly. "...Seven." he answers finally. "Number Seven."

On the other end of the line, someone screams. And he makes his move.

* * *

Lucy Heartfilia smiled and waved at a group of students, and then ran out to meet her own friends. The blonde easily fell into step with the short blunette, redhead, taller blunette, and brunette. It was habit, after all, because she'd been doing this for a year already.

Levy McGarden shifted her books in her arms, and looked up at her best friend. "Hey, Lu!" she smiled. "How was last period?"

Cana Alberona took a swig of her 'water bottle' which the four girls really know is – or rather _was – _full of some kind of alcohol. "Yeah Lucy. Isn't Loke in the same class?"

Juvia Lockser clasped her hands in front of her and sighed dreamily. "Is Lucy going to get a boyfriend?"

The blonde huffed and crossed her arms. "No! I never said I was, and if I did get a boyfriend, it wouldn't be Loke!"

Levy kicked a rock, the others not understanding how she can see over the huge stack of books in her arms. "But he really, really likes you, right?"

Lucy shrugged. "I guess so."

Juvia smiled longingly, already drifting off into her fantasy land. "Ah! Juvia can see it now! A beautiful wedding, a honeymoon to Paris, a nice house, a little redheaded girl and blonde boy-"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Lucy yelled, waving her arms in front of her, catching the blunette's, as well as the other girls', attention. "Are you even _listening _to me?! I said I _wasn't _going to be Loke's girlfriend!" she made an 'x' with her arms over her chest to illustrate her point. "No way."

Cana raised a slender brow at her. "What? Why?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "You know why."

The brunette shrugged her shoulders. "So what if he's sort of a playboy? He really seems to be infatuated with you."

Juvia put a hand to her cheek. "Juvia thought Cana and Loke didn't get along?"

Said girl snorted. "We don't."

Levy bounced on the heels of her feet as she walked. "Then why are you defending him?"

Cana waved her arms around. "I never said I was. It's just, everyone deserves a chance at happiness, don't they?"

The other four girls took her words into consideration, and they walked on in silence for a while, each involved deeply in their own thoughts. The taller, and bustier blunette, was the first to break the comfortable silence.

"Juvia thinks Erza is being unusually quiet today." she thought aloud, sending a slightly worried glance to the tall scarlet-haired girl.

The other girls snickered. "Probably thinking of someone special~!" Lucy sang, skipping slightly.

Cana nodded, a sly grin on her pretty face. "That would make sense! Because he _is _the only one who could make the Great Titania _speechless._" she paused. "Well, besides strawberry cake. But that doesn't count."

Erza Scarlet turned the color of her hair, and namesake. "I-I was not thinking of Jellal!" she protested, tugging at her charcoal gray skirt.

Grins that could rival the Cheshire Cat's own spread over the girls' faces. "But Erza," Juvia began, giggling, "no one ever mentioned Jellal."

Lucy twirled around once as she walked, her steps bouncing as she did so. "So you _were _thinking of our beloved Student Council Vice President~!" she sang once more, winking at the girl.

Erza looked away. "I-I...n-no...that wasn't-!"

Cana rolled her eyes. "Pfft. _Please_ Erza, we already know the truth." she winked like Lucy had. "So don't try to deny it! Who do you think you're kidding? Girl, you got it _bad_."

The other three girls broke into another fit of giggles as Erza blanched. Levy grinned. "Who would have thought that our brave and scary Student Council President would have a major crush on her subordinate?" she paused. "Oh wait. We did!"

The scarlet-haired girl blushed once more. "Levy! Cana! Juvia! Lucy! _Stop_! We're out in public! People are staring!"

Cana snorted, then raised her arm and waved, attracting even more attention to the girls. "Hey people!" she called loudly, making them all raise a brow at her. "This scarlet-haired girl is in lov-" Erza cut her off by slamming a hand over her mouth and quickly dragging her ahead of the group.

"Never _ever _do that again, understand?" she growled, and the brunette nodded furiously.

Lucy and the blunettes giggled quietly, before the blonde noticed something. "Oh Erza, this is your stop."

Cana grinned. "Tell the old geezer I said hey."

The other girls knew that the brunette was referring to Erza's grandfather, Rob. They'd all met the kind old man several times before, and he was like a grandfather to all of them as well.

Lucy waved at the girl. "Oh, tell him I said hello too, please Erza."

"Me too!" Levy yelled, struggling to wave at their friend around all of her books.

"Juvia third!"

Erza smiled and waved at them all from her doorstep. "I will! Goodnight!"

The other four girls continued to walk on through the streets of Magnolia. Lucy sighed and turned to their brunette friend. "You always call elderly guys 'old geezer', or something like it." she pointed out.

Cana wrinkled her nose. "I do not!"

"Actually, Juvia thinks you do too." the blunette cut in after Levy waved goodbye to them and went inside her own home where the shorter girl lived with her two uncles.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure."

"Alright." Lucy crossed her arms. "Wakaba."

Cana sighed. "Old geezer."

"Macao." Juvia put in.

"Smoking old man."

"Makarov."

"Perverted old fart."

"Gildarts."

At the mention of his name, and since they were also stopped outside Cana's house, her father seemed to appear and 'glomp' his daughter. She grunted and tried to push him off. "Over-attached old man."

"My beautiful daughter, welcome home from school! How was your day? Lovely, as you are?" Gildarts asked, practically dragging the protesting girl to their front door.

"Old man!" she barked, trying to pull away. "I do have a name! Now let me go!"

He turned once he had managed to drag her all the way up the walk and to the porch. "Hello, Juvia, Lucy! Have a great night!" he called, waving to the girls.

They smiled and waved back. "You too, Mr. Alberona!"

Then, Gildarts proceeded to drag his protesting daughter into the house, her loud and long string of curses trailing after the blonde and blunette as they continued on home. Juvia sighed and clasped her hands behind her back. "Juvia thinks it must be nice to have a father like Cana's."

Lucy smiled at the girl. "Yeah, I think so too." she paused to look at the setting sun. "Hey, want to come over for ice cream tonight?"

Out of their small circle of friends, the two girls were the only ones who didn't have any family, and that was why they always tried to cheer one another up or invite the other over. They were also the two who lived the closest to each other.

The blunette smiled. "Juvia thinks that sounds nice, but Juvia is also really tired from the pop quiz today. So Juvia thanks Lucy, but Juvia won't be able to make it."

Lucy grinned. "Hey, it's fine! Maybe another time."

Juvia nodded as she turned down the small path to her home. "Yes, Juvia would like that." she smiled. "Goodnight Lucy!"

The blonde waved. "Goodnight Juvia!"

She watched the girl until she had disappeared inside the small house, and then continued on towards her own. She still lived a couple of blocks down, and she had to hurry if she wanted to make it before dark.

Lucy jogged down the edge of Strawberry Street, and past the canal where the river flowed through Magnolia. The two men who always seemed to be in a boat whenever she went by were tying it up for the night on the other side of the canal. One of them looked up and noticed her.

"Be careful running along the canal, Lucy!" he called.

She waved and smiled. "Thank you! Goodnight!"

They waved back. "Goodnight!"

Lucy had almost made it home by now, and the street lights were just starting to come on. She clutched her school bag closer and slowed her pace. Suddenly, a noise in an alley close to her house stopped her.

She frowned. "Did Plue somehow manage to get out of the house again? I swear, that dog is _too _smart sometimes." she was referring to her large white dog that had somehow managed to get out while she was gone before.

Deciding that if indeed, it was Plue, that he would want back inside, so she carefully and cautiously made her way into the small alley. However, what she was neither her dog, nor was it white.

Lucy stared down at the _pink_-headed boy, jaw slack. He looked like he'd really been in quite the fight, as he had many injuries and was covered in blood. His clothes were weird-looking, and she'd never really seen anything like them before.

He was wearing a torn one-sleeved navy blue vest-like thing, which was torn, and white capris, also, torn. It appeared that he was also wearing the same dark blue sandals. She raised a brow, because really, who wore clothes like that? He also had a red tattoo on his right shoulder, although she didn't really know what it was because of his wounds.

The boy – actually, he was probably about her age or older – groaned, snapping the blonde out of her thoughts. She bent down, not wanting to leave him all alone and injured out in an alley at night. His wounds looked pretty severe, and he really needed medical attention before they were infected.

Lucy knelt next to him, and brushed a few locks of rosy pink hair out of his face. His smoking hot face. Seriously, it had to be a crime to be _that _handsome. She immediately pulled her hand back, and held it against her chest.

She reached her hand out again, and attempted to get him to his feet. Because he looked heavy and there was no way that she was going to carry him to her house. After more than a few failed attempts, she finally succeeded, and after letting out a small 'yes!' of victory, she somehow managed to drag him to her home.

He was slightly conscious, she figured, because he was walking – sort of. Lucy knew that she could be taking a gang member who'd been in a very obviously violent fight into her home. Or a serial killer, or a kidnapper, or a number of other horrible things into her home, but she couldn't just _leave _him there.

So, she fumbled with her keys and finally managed to unlock the door, before quickly pulling him inside and slamming it shut, locking it once more. The blonde eased him onto the couch, and rushed to get her medical supplies and some extra blankets and pillows.

Lucy Heartfilia was just a normal seventeen-year-old girl, living in a normal town. So, the boy who was currently laying unconscious on her couch had very obviously just been in some kind of really bad fight with a gang or something like that.

Yes, the blonde reasoned as she grabbed a few extra blankets. That had to be it.

Right?

Wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * *

**So there's the most likely awful first chapter. It sounded much better to my sleep-deprived mind last night. **

** For those of you who don't know, the guy in the present tense part was Natsu (not the dude with the radio, the other 'he'). So, kudos and a cookie to you if you figured that out. Also, I will not be writing any more present tense scenes for this story. It seriously throws me off. **

** This will be NaLu, Gruvia, Jerza, GaLe, and who knows what else, just so you know. **

** Have you seen that commercial for 'The Tomorrow People' on the CW? This is sort of a seriously messed up version of that. Kind of. Not really. **

** I don't really know how to explain it, so you'll just have to keep reading. **

** Please don't favorite and/or follow and run! Review too! **

** Until next time, **

** Ja ne! **

** - Sonata-chan **


	2. Seeing is Believing

**Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! ****  
**

** The newest chapter? LOL, I love Natsu. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" *guy looks in different direction* *Natsu runs away* "Kids have their own method of fighting! This feels nostalgic! Gildarts used to fall for that every time!" **

** I don't have much else to say...so...**

** Go ahead, read it, I know you want to~! **

Chapter Two

Seeing is Believing

* * *

_{I wanna hide the truth, I wanna shelter you} _

* * *

Lucy knelt next to couch, and the unconscious boy laying on it. She held a cloth up to the bottle of antiseptic and tipped it over, the clear liquid splashing onto it. The blonde set the bottle down, and rolled out some bandages on the glass coffee table, before gulping.

She held her breath and lifted her hand, the one with the wet cloth, to the teen's arm. She closed her eyes and dabbed at his wounds at bit, but opened them and took a deep breath when he hadn't so much as flinched. She gave a small sigh of relief before moving the cloth back to his arm and cleaning away some more of the dirt and blood.

The blonde winced when she realized that not all of it was dry blood, and the wounds were still oozing more of the red liquid. She rinsed out the cloth in a bowl of warm water she had sitting on the table and turned back to him.

"You really got yourself into trouble, didn't you?" she asked softly, although it was more of a rhetorical question, as the teen was still out cold.

Lucy smiled a little to herself when she could finally see a good portion of his arm. But her eyes widened and she let out a gasp at what she saw. Besides the cuts and bruises scattered all over his arm, she was able to see his biceps and the rest of his arm muscles. Her jaw dropped, because, although the jocks at her school were fit, none of them looked like _that. _

She bit her lip, and cautiously reached out a hand, which was much smaller than the boy's own, and poked his arm. Nothing happened. The blonde leaned in a bit closer and put her hand on his arm, amazed at the feel of his biceps under her skin. She slowly and softly slid her hand down his arm, reveling in the feel of it.

She was amazed, and also very curious. How, with muscles like _these_,had the teen lost the fight? _'Maybe he didn't,' _her mind argued, _'after all, he was just lying there in the alley. Maybe he got away. Who knows how far he came before he finally collapsed in the alley. Probably due to exhaustion. Then again, it looks as if he _has _lost a lot of blood.' _

At this realization, her eyes widened, and she became even more concerned. Should she take him to the hospital? How would she get him there anyway? How would she explain the situation to the doctors and nurses? What could she do?

She decided to just finish cleaning up his wounds, and keep him at her home. Because there was something at the back of her mind nagging her _not _to take him. She couldn't understand why, but she went along with it, and dropped the cloth back into the water.

Lucy picked up one of the rolls of gauze bandages and unrolled it. She carefully lifted his arm and slid it under, setting the appendage back onto the cushions and wrapping the gauze around it. She repeated this motion until she had reached his knuckles, where she cut the gauze and secured it in place.

The blonde reached her hand into the warm water and pulled the soaked cloth back out it, wringing it out. She turned to the pink-headed teen, and carefully cupped his cheek with her empty hand. She lifted the wet cloth to his cheek, and wiped off some of the blood and grime, revealing a clean strip of tan skin.

She repeated this action until his face was totally clean, and she was awestruck once again. Was it possible for someone to be _too _handsome? She stroked his cheek with her thumb, before feeling her own cheeks heat up. She looked away, rinsing out the cloth again.

Lucy stared in deep concentration at the teen's ripped vest-like shirt. If his arms looked like they did, she couldn't even begin to imagine what his torso looked like. She attempted to hold back her deepening blush as she cut away at the navy material with a pair of scissors. The blonde carefully removed what was once a piece of clothing and tossed it aside, before picking up her cloth and setting to work once more.

Her chocolate orbs widened when she accidentally ran her hand over his firm six pack, and she had to stifle the high-pitched squeak that she was sure would have come from her mouth. Good grief, this boy was going to kill her before he ever even woke up.

She was relieved when she had finally finished cleaning him up, although a bit disappointed. She coughed awkwardly at that small sliver of disappoint and turned back to grab a few more rolls of gauze. She froze, however, when a hand slipped over her mouth, and she felt the sensation of hot breath hitting her neck.

"Who are you, and where am I?" a voice she assumed belonged to the boy she'd been caring for asked her lowly. His voice sent pleasant shivers down her spine, and she swore she'd never heard anything like it.

It was deep, smooth, and alluring, but at the same time, it had a tone of boyish mirth to it. For some strange reason, it made her feel safe, protected, and she felt like this teenage boy could protect her from anything that even remotely dared to threaten her.

Which was weird because, she _really _didn't think she was supposed to feel safe and sound in this sort of situation.

"U-um..." she stammered, and the boy pulled his hand back a bit to allow her to speak, but still held it in front of her in case she decided to scream. "L-Lucy. I-I'm L-Lucy. And you're at my house."

Then, silence, but she could still feel his hot breath on her neck because he was _way too close and invading her personal space. _Not that she really minded, for some odd reason.

The teen drew her closer to himself and she let out a small gasp at the action. He pressed his nose into her neck. "Alright, Luigi-"

She frowned a bit. "I-it's _Lucy_." she didn't care whether she was in a life-threatening position or not. How was it possible to get Lucy mixed up with _Luigi_?

"-_Lucy_," he paused and turned her around so that she faced him, his dark onyx eyes bored into her own chocolate ones, "I take it you're the one who did this?" he gestured downwards and raised a pink brow.

She let her eyes trail down to his arms and chest, which she had been trying to bandage up when he had scared her. Her eyes met his once more and she nodded. "I-I...y-you looked like you needed help, and if I hadn't, your wounds would have been infected!" she had steadily raised her voice, and she brought her hands to her mouth when she realized that she had.

He seemed to relax a bit, and his dark eyes softened a little. "Where did you find me?"

She let herself relax a little too. "In the alley, a little ways from here." he nodded, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, and she fidgeted with her fingers. "Hey..." he looked back up at her. "I-I should probably finish..." she lifted her hand and laid it softly against his chest. "...you know, fixing you up." she looked up at him through her thick, long lashes. "I-if that's alright."

He stiffened under her touch, but relaxed shortly after, and gave her a curt nod. Lucy moved to sit behind him as she finished wrapping the bandages around his torso. She secured the gauze, and moved around to face him again.

"I-I'm all finished now." she didn't exactly meet his eyes.

He lifted her chin up, to look her in the eyes. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?" Lucy nodded, and to her surprise, he gave her a wide grin, revealing two rows of perfectly white and pointy teeth. She gasped, and her eyes widened, because they resembled fangs.

He blinked a few times, his grin fading into a small smirk. "Hey Lucy, you got any food? I'm starving!"

The blonde felt something tug in her chest. "U-uh, yeah. I-I do...er..."

He chuckled at her. "Natsu."

Lucy gave him a confused look. "I'm sorry, what?"

He grinned. "My name. It's Natsu."

The blonde felt a small smile slip onto her face. "So Natsu...do you just go around getting beaten up all the time? And do you just tell random strangers your name when they patch you up?"

Natsu's eyes instantly darkened, and Lucy backed away a little, feeling sorry she had brought the matter up. "No...I don't."

Lucy waved her arms around. "I-I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking!" she scrambled to get up. "I-I'm just going to...go make you something to eat now!" and she rushed off.

Natsu watched her go, slightly surprised at her actions. He looked down and turned over his hands, glancing at his palms, and sighed. Then, he decided to take in his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be the blonde's living room. He noticed it wasn't big, but it was still had a rather nice and homey feel to it.

There were quite a few pictures scattered around the room, mostly of people. A few of who he assumed was Lucy and probably her parents, and the rest were just of Lucy and some other girls, as well as a boy occasionally. Most likely her friends. There was a glass coffee table in front of the couch he was currently sitting on, and a small TV sitting on a table a few feet away from that. A few lamps were scattered here and there about the room, one on the side table next to the couch.

Lucy came back into the room a while later, carrying a tray with food on it. Natsu stared at the platter hungrily, the blonde chuckled and set it on the coffee table. "I made lots, because you were pretty convincing when you said that you were starving." she smiled sweetly and gestured to the food. "So go ahead."

Natsu dug in as she took a seat beside him on the couch, eying him curiously as he ate. "Hey Natsu?"

He looked at her. "Yeah, Luce?"

She felt her heart flutter a bit, because no one had ever given her a nickname besides Levy before. "Are you homeless?"

He choked on the sandwich he was eating. "W-what?"

The blonde raised a brow. "You know, a hobo, as in, you have nowhere to live." her brows furrowed. "And, hey, don't you go to school? How old are you in the first place? You aren't a runaway, are you? Or a dropout?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "No, I'm a dropout. And I'm eighteen." he paused. "I'm not exactly homeless...but..."

Lucy twirled a lock of blonde hair round her finger. "...but you don't have anywhere to stay, do you?" she smirked a bit.

He scoffed. "I mean, I could find a place if I wanted to..."

The blonde sighed and brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. "I guess you could always stay here..." she thought for a moment. "I mean, it's just me, my dog Plue, and maybe a few houseplants. And I guess it would be good to have a strong guy on hand who can fix hot water heaters and broken sinks and stuff."

Natsu smirked a bit. "Well, I don't really know how to fix hot water heaters or broken sinks..."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "And I can't believe I'm inviting a total stranger to live with me." she titled her head to the side and wrapped her arms around her legs. "So? You want to stay here or not?"

Natsu's smirk slipped off his face. "Look Luce, it was really nice of you to take me in and patch me up and everything, but I can't stay here with you."

She sighed. "Let me guess, you're one of those, 'lone wolf' wanderer type of guys. I get it, honestly."

"No, that's not it. If I stayed here, I'd just be putting you in danger." he replied. "And I'm not going to do that. You deserve to have a normal life."

Lucy raised a brow at his words. "Danger? Please, what kind of danger could you possibly put me in?"

Natsu was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. The blonde walked over to the door and turned to him. "Hold that thought." she unlocked the door and slid the deadbolt open. She turned the knob and smiled as the door opened. "Hel-"

Natsu's eyes widened and he was at Lucy's side immediately, pulling her down to the floor as a bullet whizzed over their heads. The blonde's eyes widened as she glanced up to see a dark hooded figure pointing a gun straight at her.

"Lucy Heartfilia." he stepped into the house. "Daughter of Jude Heartfilia, CEO of Heartfilia Concerns. You're coming with me."

She felt her heart stop, but suddenly, Natsu was there, grabbing the man by his jacket and lifting him off the ground. And Lucy watched wide-eyed as his clenched fist somehow caught fire and suddenly, her would-be-kidnapper was flying towards the wall at an inhuman speed.

Lucy gaped as Natsu stalked over to the man and lifted him up again by his now somewhat scorched jacket. "You will _never _mess with Lucy again, _got it_?" he growled darkly. "Because if you do, I swear I'll turn your body into a pile of ashes."

The man nodded furiously and Natsu dropped him to the ground. He was out of the door immediately, and they heard a car engine start up and then drive off at a remarkable pace. Natsu shut the door and turned to face a wide-eyed gaping blonde.

"Y-your fist...was on fire!" she yelled out the obvious, sitting up and pointing at him. "What the hell?!"

Natsu sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Luce...I can explain..."

She nodded her head. "Then please do, because normal people do not suddenly summon fire from nowhere, and on top of that, normal people usually aren't unharmed after being on fire either! What are you, some kind of...of..._what_?"

And suddenly, he was right there in front of her, and she hadn't noticed him getting closer to her while on her spiel. "I'm not normal, Luce."

She snorted. "Please, I can see _that._"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Really, Lucy, I'm not. I...I guess you could say I have some kind of superpowers or something along that line." he scowled. "Sounds kind of stupid when you describe it like that, though." he hadn't wanted her to know. Hadn't wanted to tell her. She deserved a normal life, didn't she? Something he'd never had. But now he'd had to tell her the truth.

Lucy reached out a hand and laid it on his chest. "I...I'm not just imagining this, am I? This isn't just some crazy dream, is it?" she looked up at him.

Natsu grabbed her hand. "It's not."

The blonde felt her head start to spin. "Then...then...what happened to you? Why are you all beat up? Who the hell _are _you?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his spiky pink hair. "Natsu Dragneel." he paused. "Prisoner Seven."

Lucy looked at him incredulously. "Prisoner?! What do you mean 'prisoner?!'"

Natsu led her over to the couch and sat down, his head in his hands. "Yeah, prisoner. Do you know how long I was locked up in that stupid research facility, Lucy? Seven years. They kept me in there for _seven years_. But nobody gave a damn because they didn't even know." he laughed. "They all thought I was dead." he looked over at her. "You know, Luce, I'm not the only one like this."

The blonde leaned a bit closer to him. "What? Natsu, what do you mean?"

He leaned back and sighed. "What I mean is, there are others like me."

Lucy felt a little sense of wonder grow inside her. "You mean...there are other people who can...do whatever you did with fire earlier?"

Natsu snorted at her description. "It's called Dragon Slaying ability. Not fire, but there are other people out there. They may not be considered Dragon Slayers, but yeah. They have the same type of ability."

"Wow..." Lucy breathed. "But...there's something I don't understand. Why were you locked up? What did you do wrong?"

Natsu crossed his arms. "Nothing. I was just different."

Suddenly, Lucy hugged him. "I'm so sorry. That must have been so hard on you."

He nervously wrapped his arms around her, not having come into contact with such human contact in years. "H-hey. It's not your fault. Wait...are you crying?!"

Lucy pulled back and sniffed, tears streaming down her face. "N-no."

Natsu reached a hand out and wiped a few tears away. "You are too!"

The blonde frowned. "But, if you were locked away somewhere, then how did you get out?"

A grin spread over his face. "I escaped."

Lucy blinked a few times, realization dawning upon her. "Is that why you were all...you know?"

He nodded. "They weren't exactly too happy that I was ready to leave." he grabbed her shoulders. "And that's why I can't stay here, Lucy. They'll come looking for me. I don't want you to get hurt."

The blonde frowned. "So? I can hide you here. They'd never suspect a high school girl to be hiding you."

Natsu sighed. "I'm not going to win this one, am I?" he grinned and leaned down close to her face, making her blush. "You know, you saw an injured guy lying out in an alley, took him into your house, patched him up, then learned that he had some crazy and unbelievable power, and then you invite him to stay in your home?" he laughed. "You're seriously one weird girl, Luce."

Lucy huffed. "Says the dragon boy who can set himself on fire and not get burned! And your hair is pink, for crying out loud!"

He scowled. "It's very obviously _salmon_!"

* * *

**So, this chapter had promise, and then there was the 'attempted (epic fail) kidnapping' scene and it all went to shit. **

** Crappy summary about Natsu's past. I'll have to try better from now on. **

** GAH! THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL! **

** ...So...I'm very sorry. I'll try better next chapter! **

** Until next time, **

** Ja ne! **

** - Sonata-chan **


End file.
